


Prompt# 76: "I want you to have this."

by Xylianna



Series: Xy's 100 Ways Challenge [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 16:19:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15343701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylianna/pseuds/Xylianna
Summary: Daryl and Setzer go to the Opera House.





	Prompt# 76: "I want you to have this."

**Author's Note:**

  * For [runicmagitek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/runicmagitek/gifts).



> Originally posted on [Tumblr](https://xylianna.tumblr.com/).

“Again?” Daryl groaned. “Setzer, every time we have a day to ourselves, you want to spend it at the Opera House mooning over the diva. Can’t we do something else today? Work on our new schematics? Look for uncharted lands?”

“No,” Setzer said decisively. “I want to see the new opera they’re performing. I’m not even sure Maria is in it,” he huffed before whirling with a flourish of his heavy flight jacket and making his way to the Blackjack’s helm.

Daryl laughed. He wasn’t fooling anyone. But she didn’t mind. Their open relationship made Maria ‘fair game’ if Setzer chose to woo her, but Daryl knew at the end of the night, it would be her he went home with. Besides, Maria _was_ quite fetching. A devilish smile quirked full lips as Daryl decided Setzer might have some competition after all…

Going belowdecks, Daryl decided to trade in her flight suit for something a little more suitable to one of Jidoor’s former debutantes. She thought she remembered packing a few old things; you never knew what would come in handy on an adventure, and flying around the world the minute she turned eighteen certainly qualified.

Dressing herself so carefully that even her mother would be proud, Daryl’s only nod to her carefree personality was in leaving her hair down rather than properly braided or coiled as befit a woman of her status. After careful consideration, she also declined to paint her face - one never knew when turbulence would strike, and she didn’t need to lose an eye just to cater to societal beauty expectations. She did paint her lips a rich russet hue that contrasted brilliantly with the blue of her dress, but that was all. 

Eyeing herself in the mirror, Daryl watched her reflection nod in satisfaction. A cloud of azure satin flared around her legs; the bodice hugged her slim torso closely. Honey-brown hair was a nimbus around her bare shoulders. Daryl thought the lack of jewelry and heavy make-up only served to highlight her natural beauty. Those colored lips quirked in a sharp smirk at the thought. You could take the girl out of Jidoor, but you couldn’t take the Jidoorian out of the girl. Ah, well.

After wrapping a thick, velvety cloak around her shoulders, Daryl went back on the flight deck. She could pinpoint the exact moment Setzer saw her by the way he swore under his breath. The words were stolen by the wind, but the sentiment was made clear by the way his violet eyes roved over her gussied-up form.

Setzer always did have a taste for the finer things. It was that, after all, which first brought them together. He’d seen her at one of the myriad galas thrown on a near weekly basis in their home city, and decided he had to have her. Well, she led him a merry chase - and they’d learned they had much in common along the way, like a shared passion for engineering and a dream of soaring the skies.

Raising her chin haughtily, she sashayed in his direction. “Are we there yet?” she asked imperiously, regardless of the fact that she could full well tell they were not.

“Soon,” he muttered, hands tightening on the wheel.

She watched those hands transfixed, thinking of they way they would feel tight like that around her wrists while he pounded into her, and she very nearly suggested they just find a place to dock and enjoy each other. But, no. The game was afoot, and she was keen to see how it would end.

The remainder of the flight to the Opera House was unremarkable. Well, that wasn’t true - flying was _always_ a miraculous, noteworthy occurrence - but it was passed silently save for the typical landing flight checks and a couple bantering comments. Before too long, they were within the bustling foyer, surrounded by a swarm of gaudily dressed patrons all waiting to be let in to the main hall to find their seats.

Daryl people watched absently, noting that it seemed some of the performers were wandering out into the crowd. Some new marketing tactic? She shook her head. Everyone here had already bought tickets; what use was there to rub elbows with the ticketholders when they could take the time for last minute preparation?

An elaborately coiffed golden head caught her attention and Daryl grinned. “Oh, Setzer?” she drawled, tapping his shoulder. When she had his attention, she pointed. “Isn’t that—”

“ _Maria_!” he gasped, eyes going wide. “Uh, excuse me, darling.” He dropped an absent kiss on her forehead and took off into the crowd.

Daryl snickered and made her way to the bar. At least they had the coin to buy the tickets that came with drinks; she had no reason to bring her purse with her and had left it safely in the locked safe on the Blackjack. “Red wine,” she requested, rewarding the barkeep with a dazzling smile before taking a taste.

“One for me, too,” a silken soprano spoke so close to Daryl’s ear, she felt the warm puff of breath against it’s delicate shell.

Daryl took a step to the side and turned curiously, though she’d know that voice anywhere. She drank her wine, watching over the rim of her goblet as Maria delicately sipped from hers, dabbing carefully at her face with a lace napkin so as not to smear her stage make-up.

“Your first time here?” the diva asked, and Daryl laughed.

“Hardly. My lover and I, we’re frequent guests.” She honed her eyes to Maria’s, admiring the murky gray, like the sky just after the storm has ended but before the sun has broken through the clouds.

“Lover? Pity,” Maria pouted, going so far as to bat her eyelashes.

Triad, was it really going to be this easy? Wait. Had Setzer put her up to this?”

“How much did he wager?” Daryl asked dryly.

A genuine laugh broke through Maria’s flirtatious facade. “One hundred gold.”

A crafty smile transformed Daryl’s face, all traces of the Jidoorian socialite falling away. “We’d best make it worth the coin, then. Especially since it’d come out of my dowry.”

“Oh, I _like_ you,” Maria cooed, stroking silky fingertips along Daryl’s cheek. “Meet me in my dressing room after curtain call.”

“ _If_ you impress me during the performance,” Daryl shot back, eyes filled with challenge.

With a cocky grin that made those stormy-sky eyes shine, Maria commanded, “Be waiting for me.” She unwound a sparkling silver bracelet from her wrist and passed it to Daryl, folding the pilot’s callused fingers around it and squeezing her hand. “I want you to have this.” Those eyes glinted. “Be wearing it and nothing else when I come to you.”

As Maria strode off regally, Daryl was left feeling a bit gobsmacked. She’d been outplayed… and she loved every second of it. 

After securing the bracelet around her wrist, Daryl went off to find her boyfriend so they could find their seats. She already knew she wouldn’t remember so much as a line from the opera. Her thoughts were focused on the after party.

Toying with the shimmering links of the bracelet, Daryl smiled dreamily and stared towards the stage, seeing nothing save the erotic kaleidoscope painted by her mind’s eye.

_Oh, Maria._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. <3


End file.
